*Spoilers all throughout, again. And seriously if you’re reading LTT but haven’t seen the movie yet you better have a GOOD reason. Swine Flu? Rob knocked on your door and said he’d be with you but only if you promised never to see one of his films? So if you haven’t seen the movie, best you skip on by. If you have, pull up your pencil & notepad, it’s time for a major New Moon-losophy:

I'm about to dissappear so that Chris Hansen can keep his career busy for the next few months

Dear LTTers,

Okay- Be honest, how many more times did you see New Moon? So far the record I know of at LTT is @Brookelockart who saw it three times. I’ve only seen it once, and I’m pretty miserable about it. But I promised my best friends I’d see it with them on Tuesday, so I guess I can wait until then. In the meantime I’ve been thinking about New Moon a lot. I’d think that was weird except by now I know to just say “That’s Normal.” So at brunch today after I talked my husband’s ear off about what a great job I thought Taylor did and how I didn’t miss Rob at all but then loved him when he returned, I took the “I’m only listening to you now so that I don’t have to hear about it later, plus I know the more accepting I am of this the more guilty you’ll feel that we spent the whole time talking about you therefore you’ll be more giving in the bedroom” gaze on his face as totally normal, as well.

Since I finished re-reading New Moon on my plane ride home from Los Angeles and I can’t see the movie until Tuesday, I’ve been doing a bit of reading online to pass the time and get my New Moon fill. First I started with fan reviews. They were basically the same- filled with “OH MY GAWD Taylor’s abs” and “I think I might switch teams” and “I’m most DEFINITELY not leaving Team Edward but dayyyummmmm can I stare at Jacob’s abs one more time?” Not to forget “Cathy Hardi you suck” and “MARRY ME CHRIS WEITZ” sprinkled with a little “Kristen now that Nikki is out of the picture can WE be fake lesbians” and “THE ENDING.. AHHH” and “I can’t wait for JUNE!” (Does that basically sum up all the feelings?) But the critic reviews were a different story.

I stayed away from critic reviews before I saw the movie. I wasn’t going to, but then I remembered how I read a review last year before seeing Twilight that suggested that Cathy Hardi’s close up shots of Rob & Kristen’s faces were because they couldn’t portray the connection Edward & Bella were supposed to have well enough. I could never get that out of my head, and I think about it every time I see the movie (and tend to agree). So this time I stayed away from the reviews so I could form my own opinions. Obviously, I loved the movie and I’m looking forward to seeing what my 2nd-10th viewings show me (My husband said if I see it more than 10 times he’ll put me in an institution)

There’s probably more we want to tell you than any letter here could ever contain about how much we love you for New Moon and finally giving the fandom a film version worthy of the saga. While watching New Moon Thursday night it all finally clicked into place that there was one HUGE difference between the Twilight movie and New Moon movie and that is YOU! Yes, you!

Our pal Jen from MyRobPattinson was lucky enough to get to be on the red carpet as the stars walked by. She got to see Kellan and Taylor and Kristen and those volturi dudes and some wolves and that guy named Rob but most importantly she got to see YOU and ask you a few of the most important questions in the world… you know stuff like what was with those orange pants at the London premiere and if you knew what a “DILF” was and since you directed the American Pie series which pretty much originated the term “MILF” I think you do! And here’s your answer……….

I know many of you haven’t seen the movie yet. GO GO GO GOOOOOOOO what are you waiting for!? Of course you know I’m writing about it today, but don’t worry- I’ll warn you before there are spoilers

Did someone bring YOU a goodie bag with knock-off Ray bans inside?

Dear New Moon,

A story to sum up the night: After remaining in our seats until the last credit rolled, singing along to every word of “Meet me on the Equinox,” occasionally letting out a yelp, a squee or an expletive and holding hands with friends and strangers around us, our group of (just) 18 gals ventured into the concession area of the theater continuing with our yelps, squees and expletives along the way. As we gathered around for a group photo in front of the Eclipse poster we decided what that moment needed was a group hug. Hugs were passed around, more squees were heard and then it hit us- just a hug will not suffice. What we needed was a New Moon huddle. So we gathered together, we all put our arms in the middle and on the count of 3 we raised our hands in the air and yelled: JORTS!

It’s 3:46am and I could go on and on about the movie I just saw. But it’s 3:46am and I really want to go to sleep, so I’ll just share a few thoughts. The first being that it’s amazing. So if you haven’t seen it yet, forget the bad reviews, forget any preconceived notions you have based on the badly made last movie (Twilight) and just go. Lower your expectations. Clear your mind of anything you hope to see and just go enjoy the great portrayal of a really great book.

I have a confession, though. With all that talk I shoved down your throats about managing expectations and ACCEPTING IT NOW that the movie very well may suck, I still hung on to a few expectations myself. Thankfully, Chris Weitz reads my mind (and therefore may now have access to my body) and BROUGHT it with New Moon. After the jump here are a few of my expectations that were met ABOVE and BEYOND! *Spoiler Alert* (see ending for *end of spoiler alert*) Continue…

A few weeks back Moon had her chance to gush over you and THEN got to meet you and shake your hand at the Billboard music event. We’ve been sharing with the world (aka the followers on twitter) daily what a DILF we think you are and then in true LTT fashion, because nothing is sacred to us, we totes went and made fun of your horrible, awful, your “wife probably called you the minute the first picture leaked and demanded you remove them”, yellow pants. We feel bad. Because in watching all the interviews with you this week, and seeing you tweet about your “yellow pants committing suicide,” we feel like you may be aware of LTT and may have “heard” us poke fun of the awfulness of the pants. We’re not sorry we said it, cause those pants deserve to burn, but we want to reassure you that you’re still our favy Twi DILF.

A few weeks back, when Moon was off somewhere crafting yet another plan to do yet another Twilight/Rob related thing to make everyone jealous, Calliope and I got to talking about the New Moon Soundtrack you and…. well, you’ll see

“I’m loving it”

Calliope: are you loving soundtrack?
UC: loving- I’m on my first listen right now!
Calliope: samies
UC: i may have switched to bon iver being my fav. i mean.. lykke li = amazing. but it’s bon iver. and i love him but then the grizzly bear…jeez..and this is what I’ve decided. (i shall tell Chris Weitz in a letter soon) New Moon LOOKS amazing; New Moon SOUNDS amazing; New Moon is a GREAT story, so as long as the acting is AMAZING, the movie will be AWESOME- it all falls on their acting and well….we’ll see
Calliope: yep. i think Kristen will be much more believable as Bella here. I think Weitz was the proper director for her… Hardi was too all over the place
UC: I hope! and Rob better not suck it (cuz sometimes he does) Hardi is crazy balls
Calliope: the puppy’s acting is also up for consideration
UC: Yes.. the puppy better lower his voice. Dude.. WTF is this Lupe Fiasco bonus track on the soundtrack? Omg… I’m dying. I will stop it and never listen again
Calliope: if rob’s acting sucks I’m blaming it on the apparition effectUC: let’s just blame anything wrong with it on Hardi

Marry Me

UC: Seriously.. did you see that picture of Chris Weitz in the studio that @twilight tweeted? He has adorable sticking out ears! I would marry him if I weren’t already married. I’d walk right up to the studio where he’s been working day and night and say.. hey Chris marry me. I’d wear something slutty..
Calliope: oh. mae. gawd. listening to that lupe song now.
UC: TURN IT OFF- I will delete it from my iTunes, I mean it. I skipped over the opera too- i can’t handle it after indie amazingness
Calliope: Okay, I skipped to “the Meadow.” OMG i heart Weitz. I want to send him a gift basket to thank him for what he’s done with new moon, but not a cheesy fruit gift basket…like a serious thoughtful gift basket
UC: yes! let’s ponder this What would it include?
Calliope: An inspirational quote book (Because he’s sensitive and would totally get it)
UC: perhaps a mix tape too.. Champagne..chocolate..book of poetry- all the things we’d need, just in case he decided to take me up on my offer to ‘thank him’
Calliope: when I was in B&N yesterday possibly scanning the racks for one of the bazillion twi-gang covers I know I’m gonna buy, I saw a journal with “stay calm and carry on” on it… and I LEGIT wanted to buy it for him. I’d Etsy him a dartboard with the studio heads responsible for Golden Compass (plus one with Nicole Kidman’s face on it because her excessive use of Botox had to have had something to do with why it tanked, as well.)
UC: Perhaps we could also use a Rachelle pillow? Since he was the last to use her?

I shared with you last week that I attended the Billboard Film and TV Music Conference and gave you all the dirty details on my brief encounter with my favorite man ever, Chris Weitz, but what else happened? I also sat in on the “Anatomy of a Soundtrack: Twilight, New Moon” panel and though I didn’t get any one-on-one time with soundtrack Music Supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas I did take copious amounts of notes, 15ish pages in fact, so how about I break it down a bit for you? (My snark in italics for your enjoyment)

Anatomy of a Soundtrack: Twilight, New Moon

Making the Twilight soundtracks were easier because Stephenie is an author that already had a clear vision and sound for her books from what she provided and talked about on her website. Music is a centerpiece to her stories. They wanted the soundtrack to be a musical manifestation of the movie and Stephenie’s story

Chris had a clear point of view about the music he wanted in New Moon: somber(and appropriate for denim cut-offs and sleep number beds)

Chop Shop/Alexandra began working on New Moon last December and were approached by countless bands and managers who wanted to be on the soundtrack. They picked artists who wanted to be part of the team , provide solely exclusive material and weren’t afraid to talk about the movie. It was all about cohesion and the artists they ended up choosing, in their minds, could all play a festival bill together.(a festival of wrist slashing music! my favorite! bandaids not included)

New Moon is the first movie Alex has worked on that was a sequel

They had what Alex called an “embarrassment of riches” when it came to options and artists to choose from for the NM Soundtrack. So many more than they could include. Almost 20 cd’s worth of material

Chris invited 6-7 potentials artists into the cutting room to show them cuts of the movie, spend time with the artists talking about tone and feeling from the scenes and what he was looking for musically. He took the time because he wanted the right songs. That is why everything fits so well according to Alexandra, the Atlantic VP and Paul Katz (Summit)

Read more about the Soundtrack panel including info on Remember Me AND stuff about Rob and his Music as well as more tid bits from Chris Weitz and Alexandre Desplat’s panel after the cut!Continue…